Accounting for labor in the early 19th century: The U.S. arms making experience

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The Accounting Historians Journal Vol. 17, No. 1 June 1990
Thomas Tyson ST. JOHN FISHER COLLEGE
ACCOUNTING FOR LABOR IN THE EARLY 19TH CENTURY: THE U.S. ARMS MAKING EXPERIENCE
Abstract: The national armory at Springfield was the largest proto-type of the modern factory establishment and its accounting controls were described by Alfred Chandler [1977] as the most sophisticated in use before the early 1840s. In spite of that, armory management did not integrate piece-rate accounting and a clock-regulated workday to produce prespecified norms of output. Hoskin & Macve [1988] have recently suggested that the armory's ac-counting controls were unable to attain disciplinary power over labor and increase labor productivity until a West Point trained managerial component had been established at the armory after 1840. They called for a reexamination of the historical record from a disciplinary rather than economic perspective to validate this doctrine. The paper presents the findings of this reexamination and indicates that West Point management training was a relatively minor determinant in the evolving nature of accounting. Several economic and social factors are found to better explain why integration did not occur any sooner than it did at the Springfield armory.
The national armory at Springfield was the largest and among the most important prototypes of the modern factory establishment and its accounting procedures and controls were the most sophisticated in use before the early 1840s [Chandler, 1977]. Until that time, however, the armory's accounting system was not designed to integrate piece-rate accounting and a clock-regulated workday.
Hoskin & Macve [1988] have argued that the presence of West Point trained management at Springfield after 1840 was the key factor in the application of accounting to enforce norms of output, attain disciplinary power over labor, and yield sig-nificant labor productivity gains. The role of accounting at the Springfield armory and the significance of a West Point trained management component are the main subjects of this study.